Looking at Architecture in Another Way

Published: 28th February 2013

John Ruskin said “No person who is not a great sculptor or painter, can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder.” This quote brings to light the current Artists on Architecture Exhibition in Offaly, bi-located between at Aras an Chontae and Birr Theatre and Arts Centre this March as part of Offaly County Council’s Engage with Architecture Programme 2013.

Selected by Oonagh Young the exhibition features local and national artists, including renowned names such Karl Burke, Felicity Clear, Maggie Madden and Sinead Curran. The work in both spaces is very different, with Birr Theatre and Arts Centre showing small works, photography, painting, print and ceramic and the work in the Aras being sculptural interventions alongside some miniature work.

“The intention behind the exhibition,” says Arts Officer Sinead O’Reilly “is to highlight the close relationship between art and architecture. All the work has been inspired by elements of architectural practice, some of it really deconstructs architecture and some really elaborates upon it, interestingly a lot of the work is very delicate, which challenges what most people would think the built environment to be.”